Lake Macquarie beaches draw one million visitors in turbulent season

newy.com.au – Lake Macquarie’s patrolled beaches welcomed more than one million visitors during a turbulent 2025-26 season marked by shifting surf and weather conditions.

Lake Macquarie City Council lifeguard patrols will wrap up on Monday until the September school holidays, ending what council described as one of the most tumultuous seasons in recent years.

Team Leader Beach Lifeguards Hayden Copping said visitor numbers at the city’s four patrolled beaches were slightly higher than the 2024-25 season, despite inconsistent conditions.

“But the fluctuating weather means we haven’t had the consistency we would normally see over summer,” he said.

“It has been a real mixed bag of conditions. We’d get a perfect beach with ideal surf one day, then a southerly forcing us to close the beach the next, only for it to go back to being idyllic a day or two later.”

Lifeguards completed almost 100 rescues across the season, almost double the number recorded the previous year.

Mr Copping said the increase was likely linked to the challenging conditions.

Lifeguards also recorded 48 major incidents involving other agencies such as NSW Ambulance or the Westpac Rescue Helicopter.

“They basically refer to anything that requires further intervention, whether it’s a broken bone or a more complicated, multi-agency rescue,” Mr Copping said.

Broken and dislocated bones were the biggest contributor to the major incident logbook, with 14 recorded across the season.

Mr Copping said lifeguards had also responded to rescues at unpatrolled locations, including Moonee, Frazer Park, Dudley, Swansea Heads and Swansea Channel.

“There were eight in total, including at Moonee, Frazer Park, Dudley, Swansea Heads and Swansea Channel,” he said.

“At times the people who were rescued were literally seconds away from drowning, so it’s a massive credit to our lifeguards and other agencies involved that we were able to avoid fatalities.”

“It is testament to the dedication, skill and professionalism of our lifeguard workforce.”

Redhead was the city’s most popular beach, with an estimated 327,000 visitors, followed by Caves Beach with 311,000, Blacksmiths with 200,000 and Catherine Hill Bay with 154,000.

Another 34,000 visitors were recorded at Hams Beach during the six weeks patrols were extended to cover that stretch of coast.